I L-O-V-E Matzah Ball Soup. I was first introduced to this dish when my husband (when he was a boyfriend) treated me to Jerry’s Deli in Los Angeles, CA. It was when we first started dating and little did I know that he and Matzah Ball soup would both rock my world.
I decided to take on the challenge by learning how to make this dish, and naively thought it would be super easy. It took me many botched recipes to get the Matzah Balls right. But with a lot of practice and helpful hints from my husband’s lovely sisters and his beautiful mother, I finally got this dish right! Now I make this soup about once a month for my husband and my sweet adorable son. The last time I made this was for Channukah and they loved it! And as always they ate seconds!
There are two different ways that I make this soup. When time is of essence and I am in hurry and I am craving Matzah Ball soup, I use organic chicken broth from a carton. But when there is more time in my day, I like to make this recipe with homemade chicken broth. The version that I am sharing with you in this recipe will be the latter. It takes a bit longer but so worth the extra labour of love. Plus you can either freeze this soup or make extra chicken broth/stock for another yummy soup dish.
I hope you enjoy it this delish dish!
- 1 whole chicken 4-lbs., Quartered with giblets
- The Chicken Stock
- 4 qts. of cold water
- 2 medium onions, peeled, and cut in half
- 2 parsnip, halved croosswise
- 6 carrots, scrubbed, and cut in half
- 6 stocks of celery, cleaned and chopped, including leaves
- 1 head of garlic, cut in half
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 sprigs of Parsley
- 1 tsp of pepper corns
- The Soup:
- 2 carrots, sliced ¼ to ½ inch thick (depends on your mood)
- 2 stalks of celery, sliced
- 1 onion, quartered
- salt
- fresh ground pepper
- Matzah Balls:
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup of matzah meal
- ¼ cup of seltzer
- 2 tsp. of olive oil
- 1 tsp. of salt
- 1 dash of pepper
- To Make the Chicken Stock: When I go to the market and I know in advance that I am going to make this soup, I have my local butcher quarter the whole chicken. It is less expensive that way and I ask to keep the giblets and back bone for the soup. I always remove the skin from the chicken.
- In a large stock pot, bring 4qts. of cold water to a boil and place all the ingredients in the stock pot. Reduce the heat, half-cover and simmer for 45 minutes, until the the chicken is cooked through. You can tell that the chicken it is easy to pull the chicken away from the bone. Remove the chicken from the pot and let it cool. Once cool, shred meat. Return the bones to the soup stock, and continue to simmer for about another 2 hours. Strain stock through a sieve and discard the solids. If you would like to remove the fat that let the stock cool and store in the refrigerator over night. I do this when I make the soup ahead of time. The next day, skim off the fat (or save for the matzah balls).
- There should be about 12 cups left.
- To Make the Matzah Ball: In a bowl, whisk eggs, matzah meal, seltzer, olive oil, and salt. Cover and chill for 1 hour.
- Bring 2½ qts. of water to boil (or 6 cups water and 4 chicken broth for richer flavor)
- With wet hands, form matzah balls, approx. 1 inch in diameter. Drop them into the boiling water one at at time. Cover and reduce the heat and simmer for about 35-45 minutes. Makes about 12 balls
- Soup assembly: Bring 8 cups the chicken stock to boil in a large pot and add matzah balls, carrots, onions, and celery. Simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with a smile and heart full of love.
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